Tewksbury, other towns' officials eye slow burn on pot-dispensary law

Tewksbury, others seek delay in implementation

TEWKSBURY -- If a request made by the Board of Selectmen comes to fruition, it could be another year before any medical-marijuana dispensaries could open in town, or anywhere in the state.

The board has drafted a letter to the town's Beacon Hill delegation calling for new legislation delaying the implementation of the state's recently passed medical-marijuana law.

With this move, Tewksbury joins other communities in the area and throughout the state in attempting to put a hold on the distribution of the drug until after state regulations are fully fleshed out.

"Basically the goal is to slow the train down, take a deep breath and get organized," Selectman Todd Johnson said. "And then once we know more, we can develop a plan of action."

Last week, the board voted unanimously to support a yearlong moratorium on medical- marijuana dispensaries. This echoes a vote by the Planning Board and is intended to allow the town time to determine its own policies for where such facilities could be located and what would exist in the way of local control.

The law permitting medical usage of marijuana went into effect on Jan. 1, but the state Department of Public Health has until May 1 to issue regulations governing areas including treatment centers, cultivation and storage of the plant and patient registration.

According to the DPH, no dispensaries can open until the regulations have been crafted. After that point, up to 35 nonprofit treatment centers can be registered with the state, with at least one but no more than five per county.

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Johnson said he has no idea if Tewksbury could end up as a potential dispensary site but wants the town to plan ahead and explore its options regardless.

"Our responsibility as town leaders is to think ahead and have a vision of a future," he said. "We have a Town Meeting process, so we'd need to bring some of those issues, if not all of them, to Town Meeting. The residents need to have a say in it."

Tewksbury holds its annual Town Meeting on May 6. If the DPH regulations come out close to that date, the selectmen fear it won't give town boards and committees enough time to determine how they'd like to respond. Johnson said that, depending on what the DPH decides, the town may wish to impose zoning restrictions or other measures that would first need to be cleared at Town Meeting.

Chelmsford Town Meeting representatives will have a chance to make similar choices in their community this spring, voting on two articles related to medical-marijuana dispensaries. One will seek a temporary moratorium, while another looks to restrict where dispensaries can be located.

"The state Department of Public Health hasn't come up with regulations, so it's sort of hard to figure out the best way to proceed," Chelmsford Town Manager Paul Cohen said. "That's why we're on this dual track."

Wilmington Town Manager Jeff Hull said for May's annual Town Meeting, municipal government will most likely draft an article putting a moratorium on dispensaries within town.

After that, Hull said, the town would probably create a study committee to determine the best approach to implementing the new law, including considering zoning bylaws and "any other measures to eliminate any downsides."

In Lowell, work has been under way since December on a zoning ordinance that would restrict dispensaries to certain districts and ban them within 1,000 feet of a school or library. Rather than voting on the ordinance this week, the City Council returned the proposal to the zoning subcommittee, citing the wait for DPH regulations as one reason for the delay in taking action.

Other Massachusetts municipalities including Wakefield, Reading, Peabody and Melrose, have enacted bans on any dispensaries within town or city limits.

Tewksbury selectmen are now incorporating suggestions from town counsel before sending a final version of their request to state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, and state Reps. Jim Miceli, D-Wilmington, and Jim Lyons, R-Andover.

Johnson said the letter was written using recommendations from the Massachusetts Municipal Association. According to the association, Sandwich's Board of Selectmen first reached out to state leaders with a similar request in November.

Johnson said a temporary freeze on the law's implementation would not outright prevent dispensaries from coming to Tewksbury, but rather would keep the town from instituting policies that may need to be rewritten to comply with state statutes released at a later date.

"I'm not saying we're opposed to it," he said. "We just need to address it in a coherent, thoughtful way."

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